Basic Texture Design and Creation

Having addressed the basics of SL building and gone over the fundamentals of design and craftsmanship that’s needed to make a solid build. I believe that a few words about creating textures is next in order. I will state I am not a texture master by any stretch of the imagination. I do know how to properly apply textures correctly to a prim and making multiple prims objects look right with textures covering them appropriately. But I do believe that all builders should know the fundamentals of how to create a texture that may be needed to fit a unique situation as they arise during building. In an earlier blog I go over the Texture Tool Box I use to help fill in sections and create on the fly created textures from existing standard work textures.

The best place to start is to procure a texture creating program that’s affordable and workable for you. I don’t recommend going out and spending hundreds of dollars on the latest Photoshop program if you have never made a texture before. Look on the net find free upload programs, such as GIMP or Photoshop. Try the sample ones make sure before you spend dollars you can work the program and you enjoy doing it.

Next spend some time learning how they work, look at the tutorials, search the net again for lessons there out there just look, then study and try them to make sure this is something your capable of doing. If after trying all this and you discover its not for you, your not out the dollars you may have spent on a program. Besides there are some great texture artist in world who sell textures at extremely reasonable prices.
A few stores I have always found to have great textures are TRU Textures R US - Texture ART's - Textures at Starship Jefferson - Sanctorum Textures and Designs - 3D Concepts - Skye Texture Zone - Kismet Textures - Builders Brewers - Distressed Textures to name just a few great stores. Also by joining the groups get you a few freebies and discounts on textures from the creators.

So you have got a program learned the basics and are ready to make a few simple textures. Remember if your going to sell any thing you make with these textures you do want to make sure they are not someone else’s property. So don’t go to Google or Yahoo and start copying every cool picture or texture you see they could be and are most likely copy rights associated with them.


A sense of balance is needed when creating a texture or when texturing a build. To make a clean, balanced even texture you have to make sure the texture is centered vertically and horizontally. Use the texture program to make sure the texture is lined up correctly or if you are tiling it make sure it is looks good before you upload it to SL. The emerald viewer is great for uploading a sample texture (no $10L charge) to see if it looks right. With a sense of balance you also have to consider the edges of a texture and how they look, are they outlined is the edge dark, light, or uneven check to make sure it looks right.
If after all you have done the best you can and uploaded the texture into SL and its off a little you can always tweak the texture with a small stretch to correct the error. But in the long run you will always have to stretch that texture to make it look right. So, take your time the first time is the best in the long run.

Continuity of a texture grouping is important when making textures to be used in a build. The easiest way to do this is to have a central theme that flows through all the textures in a particular set you create. This can be done in several simple ways, color, design, secondary sections or contrast parts of the texture. This helps to give the overall look of the build a uniform feel and reduces the cluttered look that some times occurs with textures that are to similar or over used when building.
Also in continuity you want to remember that applying the same texture over a large section or a repetitive section of a build (stairs) that you do want to change the application settings so it does not look like the same texture over and over in a highly repetitive pattern. By applying a contrast to the texture settings you will achieve a more realistic look to the build.

Contrast and color tinting is a trick I use allot when making textures and tinting and shading textures I have purchased. If all the textures on the build look the same and only the SL light settings add any light character to it you are not separating your build from all of the other run of the mill builds you see in SL.
When you add contrast into the textures, your build will instantly become more attractive. Contrast and tinting can be applied to textures in several ways, when creating them or with using the UI color under cursor section of the SL viewer to color tint and match the textures. A tip to remember is that when using the UI on an existing texture it will most likely be a darker shade than the one you are matching it to so you will most likely have to lighten in a shade to make it match properly. I also take and make some sections off by a small numerical setting if the color is 120 I may make the next prim 122 and the one on the opposite 119 it gives a small variation and give the build a more realistic feel overall.

While this blog deals with creating textures, all of the tips can also address when working with existing textures. So don’t be afraid to tweak, tint , shade and color textures you have. One thing I love to do is use a texture that is not related in anyway in the world to the place I used it in the build. Wall, floor, or even metals or what ever become glass or some other type of texture. This can be achieved by using the transparency or different settings in the Edit section of the Viewer. Explore push the edges create a few that look and work good for you then save them and stick them in your Texture Tool Box.


Good Building & Texturing

Nyx